Mon.’s Devo - The Promised Rest

Read: Ezekiel 3:16-6:14; Hebrews 4:1-16; Psalm 104:24-35; Proverbs 26:27 Ezekiel had sat in silence for 7 days after his encounter with God and seeing the four living creatures in heaven. After the 7 days God gave him a message for him personally. He told him that when He gave him a message for the people he was obligated under the penalty of death to deliver it. He was only held responsibility for giving the message, not their response. Their obedience would be up to them and they would pay the consequences of their response. God told him to go to the valley where he saw the vision he had seen before then God told him to go into his house and shut himself in. There, he would be tied with ropes and not be able to speak until the Lord set him free and told him what to say because the people were rebellious. When he was let out, God told him to draw the city of Jerusalem on a clay brick and make a small replica of a siege around the brick. Then he was to lie on his left side and place the Israel’s sins on him. He was to lie on that side for 390 days - one for each year they sinned. Then he was to lie on his right side 40 days for the years of Judah’s sins. He was to do that staring at the siege of Jerusalem that he had built. To prepare for his days of lying on his side, he was to mix wheat, barely, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer wheat together in a jar. With the grains he was to make bread to eat during the time he would be laying on his side. He was to cook it over fire made from dung. He was to ration out the amount so it would last the whole time. He was to do this with drops of water also. This was all to show the people the severity of what was coming if they didn’t repent. Next, he was told to take a sharp sword and shave his head and beard. He was to weigh the hair and evenly divide it into three groups. These hairs would represent their people. One third he was to place on the brick of Jerusalem and burn it to show that the people left in Jerusalem would die of the fire. A third was to be chopped by his sword to show that one third of the people would die in the battle. The last third, he was to throw them into the wind showing that they would be scattered by the wind to the nations of the earth. He spoke to the mountains of Israel which would mean the leaders of the civil and religious. They would be demolished along with their pagan temples and idols. They were responsible for the people because they had been set up as leaders. Instead of leading them to God, they had led them to all kinds of detestable abominations. They would be punished for that. In Hebrews, the writer spoke of a rest that no one had yet entered in because they couldn’t believe and chose to disobey God. It is being offered again to us. We do that by resting from our labors and obeying God. This takes a great act of our will to trust God in the midst of very uncertain circumstances but we can do that with his grace. Lord, help us to enter into your rest and cease from our labors.